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Jeff Grubb: "Ubisoft definitely already did the rounds proposing acquisitions "
Jinzo Prime
Member
Yeah, Ubisoft has plenty of great IP that anyone would want, problem is they have was too many employees and studios. Here's the list:
32 studios. Nobody wants to deal with all that.
They should sell individual studios and IPs or break up into smaller companies instead of trying to sell it all.
- Future Games, London, United Kingdom
- Hybride Technologies, Piedmont, Quebec, Canada
- Massive Entertainment, Malmö, Sweden
- Nadeo, Paris, France
- Quazal, Canada
- Owlient, France
- RedLynx, Helsinki, Finland
- Red Storm Entertainment, Cary, North Carolina, United States
- Reflections in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Sunflowers Interactive Entertainment Software GmbH, Heusenstamm, Germany
- THQ Montreal, Canada
- Ubisoft Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Ubisoft Annecy
- Ubisoft Barcelona
- Ubisoft Blue Byte, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Ubisoft Blue Byte Mainz, Germany
- Ubisoft Casablanca, Morocco
- Ubisoft Chengdu, China
- Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Germany
- Ubisoft Japan
- Ubisoft Milan, Italy
- Ubisoft Montpellier, France
- Ubisoft Monthreal, Canada
- Ubisoft Nagoya, Japan
- Ubisoft Paris, France
- Ubisoft Poland
- Ubisoft Pune, India
- Ubisoft Quebec, Canada
- Ubisoft Bucharest, Romania
- Ubisoft San Francisco, California, United States
- Ubisoft Shanghai, China
- Ubisoft Singapore
- Ubisoft Sofia, Bulgaria
- Ubisoft Toronto, Canada
- Ubisoft Ukraine
32 studios. Nobody wants to deal with all that.
They should sell individual studios and IPs or break up into smaller companies instead of trying to sell it all.
drganon
Member
No. MS needs to manage the studios they already got. Especially if the whole abk deal does go through.
I'll never understand why some people want Microsoft to monopolize the industry.
Also, I thought we already decided Grubb was full of shit and wasn't worth listening to.
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feynoob
Member
No one wants that.
He is shit. But the story is true, considering how much shit Ubisoft is going through now.
Ubisoft would have to sell itself off, since they don't have the funding necessary to operate itself with these losses.
bitbydeath
Member
Japan to limit foreign ownership of firms in its tech and telecom sectors
The new rule, effective Aug. 1, comes amid heightening pressure from the United States in dealing with cyber-security risks and technological transfers involving China.
www.cnbc.com
feynoob
Member
I knew you would post shit like this, and not understand what it says.
Sega isn't classified as high tech in this case.
This rule applies to companies like Sony, not Sega.
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bitbydeath
Member
They’re on the list, check the second tab.
Jen_yakzua
Member
Just checked and they indeed are on the list they're, also a grade 2
Surprisingly Capcom and square enix are grade 1
bitbydeath
Member
The big companies like Sony, Toyota etc are graded a 3, so priorities must run backwards.
skit_data
Member
They have some good studios and a lot of manpower, it just feels like they went creatively bankrupt and relied way too heavily on Assassins Creed and the formula that evolved from it.
It’s a shame, I actually really liked where they were going with stuff like The Crew (crazy as it sounds, The Crew 2 is actually one of my most played PS4 games).
It’s a shame, I actually really liked where they were going with stuff like The Crew (crazy as it sounds, The Crew 2 is actually one of my most played PS4 games).
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
They already have Tango Gameworks in terms of Japanese teams.
You guys need to keep in mind, it's not just about if MS is able to buy a company. The company in question has to actually want to sell to them. Sega are actually the only Japanese publisher MS could hope to realistically buy (when taking factors aside from money, like corporate culture, partnership history etc. into account), but if MS are approved for the ABK acquisition, I would at least hope they take a moment to slow down and get everything they own already under control, and produce a steady stream of results, before considering picking up yet another publisher.
If they aren't willing to take that consideration of their own choice, maybe regulators need to set some limitations.
feynoob
Member
In what way is tango game works is compared to Sega?
And how is trying to get a hold foot in Japan market a bad thing for MS?
Ronin_7
Member
Microsoft wouldn't touch a burning business lol
Their acquisitions is about things that can print money in the mid to long run.
Ronin_7
Member
Here's a fun fact:
As of today Ubisoft is only Worth 2.5B €, less than a Billion of what SONY paid Bungie.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/UBI...ltES2Z4_dBRdt7qDMusAYYupTapafh20a_qqBjnSsXf05
As of today Ubisoft is only Worth 2.5B €, less than a Billion of what SONY paid Bungie.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/UBI...ltES2Z4_dBRdt7qDMusAYYupTapafh20a_qqBjnSsXf05
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feynoob
Member
They still aren't on level 3.
Level 3 is the one that gets blocked due to national security concerns.
It has to reach this concern level.
kyussman
Member
I certainly think they have IP worth value.....the issue has been they have taken most of their big IP and made the same template games with them.Ever since they declared everything was going to be open world they have been on a downward spiral for me.A new owner could take their IP's and make them distinct again.......saying that I wouldn't buy them,they are way too bloated.
Gavon West
Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Not to mention Splinter Cell. That IP is worth it alone.
Roufianos
Member
Nonsense. If anything Ubisoft failing makes me more positive about this industry's future.
Nobody in their right mind would buy Ubisoft right now.
It's not about price. It is about company that is so bloated, that it is just not worth trying to integrate it into your company. Unless Ubisoft is willing to "trim fat"
They have 20k+ employees and have release schedule worse than publishers will less than half of employees. Their projects are constantly in trouble and 7 cancelled projects in 6 months speaks for itself.
They can't seem to break into most profitable and lucrative parts of industry (live-service and F2P) and they ran their popular franchises into the ground (Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon)
It's not about price. It is about company that is so bloated, that it is just not worth trying to integrate it into your company. Unless Ubisoft is willing to "trim fat"
They have 20k+ employees and have release schedule worse than publishers will less than half of employees. Their projects are constantly in trouble and 7 cancelled projects in 6 months speaks for itself.
They can't seem to break into most profitable and lucrative parts of industry (live-service and F2P) and they ran their popular franchises into the ground (Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon)
Regulators don’t care about any of what you’ve just posted. They’re there to prevent actions that would severely hamper competition and hurt consumers.
The whole ‘settle down and produce a steady stream…’ talk is just nonsense anyway. Games take a long time to make.
Back to topic, I hope people realize that conversations around mergers/sales are discussed at senior executive level and this is WELL above Jeff Grubb pay grade. Nobody is in a position to leak something like this to him.
He’s just guessing…and this is one where nobody’s going to challenge him or publicly refute.
He’s just guessing…and this is one where nobody’s going to challenge him or publicly refute.
bitbydeath
Member
1, 2 and 3 get blocked, that’s the purpose of the list. There’s many companies outside of the list that won’t though. Platinum Games for example isn’t included.
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Mibu no ookami
Member
It's not as simple as that and a competent developer can simply make their own franchise for a fraction of the cost involved in buying Ubi Soft.
Sony made Ghost of Tsushima which sold just as well as any of the recent multiplatform Assassin's Creed games and it did so on its first outing. The shooters are entirely generic at this point. Ubi Soft's market cap is nearly 3 billion USD. That money could just as easily buy you a CDPR or a Capcom.
Are you going to squeeze 3 billion dollars out of them? No, which is why Ubi Soft frantically wants to sell or merge with someone else. Not only do you need to look at ROI but you have to look at future longevity, as well as opportunity costs and operating costs.
The industry suggests otherwise. They couldn't even get a nibble from Tencent?
Ubi Soft would cost more than 3 billion dollars...
See above. I wouldn't trust any of you with my money.
No, it isn't.
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nemiroff
Gold Member
Ah, holy shit, wow, yeah! How could we been so stupid to not realize that you can just snap your fingers and "simply" make your own super-brand!
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Mibu no ookami
Member
Sega isn't going to grant them some sort of entry into the Japanese market. A company that specifically struggled to sell in Japan... They have a couple of franchises with moderate success with Yakuza and Persona, but that's not going to move units in Japan, rather it would have the opposite effect of killing said franchises and any momentum that they had. Neither is a system seller.
KungFucius
King Snowflake
That is 20 million over 2+ years with a probable 3 year gap between AC titles. Lots of people play AC games. Smaller, more frequent releases probably could make more for them then one giant release with expansions that only fanatics would want to play.Good to see nonsense hyperbole getting called out.
"Not worth owning"
Also:
"Ubisoft announced the open-world action RPG, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, has surpassed 20 million players worldwide.
"Over 20 million Vikings have embarked on their epic journey to Valhalla. Standing strong by Eivor's side. From Norway to England. To Mythical Realms of the Gods," reads a tweet from Ubisoft.
"Thank you for taking this journey with us. SKAL!"
The launch day for the game saw twice as many players as Assassin's Creed Odyssey did. The game also earned over $1 billion in revenue in December 2021"
Assassin's Creed Valhalla Tops 20 Million Players
Ubisoft announced the open-world action RPG, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, has surpassed 20 million players worldwide.www.vgchartz.com
Ubisoft is hurting because they haven't released any "big" game since Far Cry 6. Apparently their online only Just Dance took a dive too. FFS sometimes people just want to buy a game and play it for a few weeks until it gets stale. And they released a Mario Rabbids game that didn't have coop like the first and it didn't sell as well. Basically they made changes and the market said, fuck you and now they are crying about it.
feynoob
Member
3 is the most restricted.
1-2 depends on the circumstances.
Sega is media entertainment, which means less restrictions.
Their main concern is National security from these purchases. If the sale doesn't pose a national security threat, it gets passed. If it does pose national threat, it will be blocked.
They won't outright block it.
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feynoob
Member
MS need Japanese audience first. They have low Japanese audience right now, which is why they aren't getting enough Japanese games.
By having Sega, they could have enough audience, which allows other parties to port their games to Xbox, which in turn increase Xbox audience.
It's not a game changer, but enough to make Japanese audience to invest on Xbox.
Strider311
Member
So I’m guessing my beloved Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon aren’t coming back any time soon then…
Mibu no ookami
Member
You don't buy a Japanese company who has struggled to sell to a Japanese audience in a market that is moving more away from consoles and more to mobile...
That just doesn't make any sense...
wipeout364
Member
Ubisoft seems like the kind of company that if you acquired them they would expect to be in charge after the acquisition. The leadership have always given me a weird vibe like they think they are a bit too important.
I really like some Ubisoft IP’s Siege, The division, Anno, Far Cry but they seem to be rudderless nowadays always coming across as chasing fads but never delivering anything people want.
I really like some Ubisoft IP’s Siege, The division, Anno, Far Cry but they seem to be rudderless nowadays always coming across as chasing fads but never delivering anything people want.
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Mibu no ookami
Member
You mean like what Sony did with Uncharted and Ghost of Tsushima?
There is a reason no one really wanted to buy Tomb Raider along with the company's baggage.
Mibu no ookami
Member
2.7 billion dollar company. Most companies don't have 2.7 billion dollars + bonus to get shareholders to sell. Stock has lost half its value in the last 6 months. 60 percent in the last year, and 75 percent in the last 5 years.
Yeah, you're right, people are waiting for the bottom and with the end of cheap cash, you have to be really careful about financing a purchase for a company not nearly worth its value.
JackMcGunns
Member
It's call 'Moving the goal posts" annoying to have a conversation like that
Rainboy Six is another great IP. They also own the perpetual right to use Tom Clancy's name.
Watch Dogs and Far cry are franchises with pedigree that have potential to be worth owning.
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bitbydeath
Member
All three grades are the most restricted, companies that aren’t on the list as per my previous example are not. It’s explained on the first slide.
They won’t outright block, they’ll check if a foreign entity is trying to buy them and if so then block.
It’s not just about national security as you keep mentioning, it’s about ensuring highly profiled companies continue to exist in Japan.
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feynoob
Member
I guess I learned new stuff today.
GreatnessRD
Member
This is Ubi's karma for making that garbage Breakpoint after such a good game in Wildlands.
I wanted smoke after Karen Bowman robbed me of my glory. And they failed to deliver there.
I wanted smoke after Karen Bowman robbed me of my glory. And they failed to deliver there.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Didn't say MS getting a foothold in Japan is a bad thing. However, it doesn't have to involve acquiring a traditionally multiplat 3P publisher (which Sega have been longer than they were a platform holder making consoles).
Regulators actually do care about those things (or they should) because they directly contribute to what could potentially hamper competition and harm customers in the market, if left unchecked. Games taking longer to make isn't a good excuse for companies to go carte blanche and acquire whatever they want, as much as they want. That isn't going to resolve game dev time issues without causing a downshift of something else, like less games (or less AAA games specifically) coming out because more labor has to be shifted to speeding up the development of select games.
A case could probably be argued that regulatory laws need adjustments to implement proactive measures and passive moderation of market consolidation, outside of when regulators have to investigate an initiated M&A transaction by two companies going public with their intent. That could ease off the need for future concessions, by having longer-period stipulations in play for approved deals depending on their scale.
All of that helps prevent competition from being unfairly hampered or customers from being harmed. So yeah, they should consider things like that if they aren't already.
TBF they had Virtua Fighter in the past which was a big deal in the Japanese market for fighting games, but it's been SO long since a proper VF that I wonder if the IP has the same draw as it did before. Not to mention while arcades are still a thing in Japan (more so than the rest of the world), they've seen a gradual slide in that market as well. Sega even sold off their arcade centers to another company (I think they bought a couple of them back though).
But yeah historically speaking among the Japanese publishes, Sega's games have had the least success in the region, at least on the console side. Even on the Saturn, it was mainly 3P software bringing in many of the games sales. Sonic Frontiers set a new record for a Sonic debut in Japan since Sonic Adventure which is great, but those numbers are a far cry from, say, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Pokemon or Splatoon.
Although for Frontiers they were higher than certain other releases. That's why I said, if MS were to try for a Japanese publisher, their only realistic option would be Sega and they would still need to keep their games multiplat at least in Japanese & Asian territories, and for stuff like Sonic, keep them multiplat globally. Some people would probably be upset if say, Sonic games stopped coming to PlayStation, but I think Nintendo systems dominate Sonic sales in general outside of one-offs like All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Yeah, it's about ensuring economic stability and sovereignty for the Japanese market, and in turn its citizenry. They don't actually block foreign companies from buying any Japanese companies or investing in them (i.e MS now owns Tango Gameworks, Saudi Arabia investment group has a 6% stake in Nintendo, etc.), but their limitations of foreign ownership & investment into Japanese corporations is very strict.
Honestly it's something places like the United States aught to consider implementing.
EDMIX
Member
lol...and? What does this have to do with the factual worth of those IP? Those latest games also happen to be the best selling AC titles in history.
Thats like me saying "the newer CODs have helped, but it begins to suffer from copy and paste" etc
This has....what exactly to do with the IPs actual worth in regards to another company purchasing them?
This.
So he is telling me all those companies just invited him to a Zoom call and where like "buy Ubisoft? lolz"
It sounds so fucking fake and forced its not even funny. Massive doubt. I'm sure Ubisoft might get bought in a few years, I'm doubtful those saying no today "laughing' or any of this fake sensationalist shit. It sounds like the view of someone that personally dislikes the company, not the view of someone that fucking knows business.
Thats like me saying McDonalds is looking to sell and "derrr I hEarD dayZ was likE lolz and got lAugHed aTz, day food nasty doe" as if this is what any fucking company is giving a shit about when making such choices....
Good to see nonsense hyperbole getting called out.
"Not worth owning"
Also:
"Ubisoft announced the open-world action RPG, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, has surpassed 20 million players worldwide.
"Over 20 million Vikings have embarked on their epic journey to Valhalla. Standing strong by Eivor's side. From Norway to England. To Mythical Realms of the Gods," reads a tweet from Ubisoft.
"Thank you for taking this journey with us. SKAL!"
The launch day for the game saw twice as many players as Assassin's Creed Odyssey did. The game also earned over $1 billion in revenue in December 2021"
Assassin's Creed Valhalla Tops 20 Million Players
Ubisoft announced the open-world action RPG, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, has surpassed 20 million players worldwide.
ok, but its not 40 million...FLOPZ /s lol
I never get how some gamers can be completely detached from reality.
Portugeezer
Member
No, don't you see, they got laughed at.
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